Paradise Driver

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Today is Saturday, May 22nd.

The 143rd day of 2004.

There are 223 days left in the year.



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Today's Highlight in History:



On May 22, 1868, the "Great Train Robbery" took place near Marshfield, Ind., as seven members of the Reno gang made off with $96,000 in loot.



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On this date:



In 1761, The first life insurance policy in the United States was issued, in Philadelphia.



In 1807, Former Vice President Aaron Burr was put on trial for treason in Richmond, Virginia, but was acquitted in August.



In 1813, Composer Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig, Germany.



In 1819, The first steam-propelled vessel to attempt a transatlantic crossing, the Savannah, departed from Savannah, Ga. (It arrived in Liverpool, England, on June 20.)



In 1841, Henry Kennedy received a patent for the first reclining chair.



In 1843, The first wagon train left Independence, Missouri, for the Oregon Trail. About 1000 colonists were part of the wagon train.



In 1849, Abraham Lincoln received a patent for the floating dry dock.



In 1892, Dr. Sheffield, a British dentist, invented the toothpaste tube.



In 1900, The Associated Press was incorporated in New York as a non-profit news cooperative. It was founded in 1848.



In 1908, The Wright brothers registered their flying machine for a U.S. patent.



In 1939, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini signed a "Pact of Steel" committing Germany and Italy to a military alliance.



In 1945, 6th Marine division reaches suburbs of Naha Okinawa



In 1947, The "Truman Doctrine" was enacted as Congress appropriated military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey.



In 1953, U.S. President Eisenhower signed the Offshore Oil Bill, which gave coastal states control over "submerged" lands.



In 1955, Jack Benny did his last live network radio broadcast after a run of 23 years. He devoted his time fully to TV.



In 1956, KRIS TV channel 6 in Corpus Christi TX (NBC) begins broadcasting



In 1960, Virtually all coastal towns in Pacific Basin between 37th & 44th parallels severely damaged by tsunami that strikes Hilo HI at 01:04 AM



In 1961, The Top Of The Needle restauraunt in the Space Needle in Seattle opened as the first revolving restaurant.



In 1965, "Super-cali-fragil-istic-expi-ali-docious" hits #66. The Beatles' "Ticket to Ride" was #1.



In 1966, The final episode of "Perry Mason" aired on CBS.



In 1967, "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" debuts on NET (now PBS)



In 1969, The lunar module of Apollo 10 flew to within nine miles of the moon's surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.



In 1972, President Nixon began a visit to the Soviet Union, during which he and Kremlin leaders signed the SALT One arms limitation treaty.



In 1972, The island nation of Ceylon became the republic of Sri Lanka.



In 1973, Nixon admits White House role in the Watergate cover-up, citing national security.



In 1977, Final European scheduled run of the Orient Express after 94 years of operation.



In 1979, Canadians voted in parliamentary elections that put the Progressive Conservatives in power, ending the 11-year tenure of Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.



In 1981, The Prime Interest Rate went to 20.5 percent



In 1984, The final episode of "Hart to Hart" aired.



In 1989, In a serious blow to Chinese Premier Li Peng, more than 100 top military leaders vowed to refrain from entering Beijing to suppress pro-democracy demonstrations.



In 1990, Microsoft releases Windows 3.0



In 1992, After a reign lasting nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson hosted NBC's "Tonight Show" for the last time.



In 1998, New information came to light about the June 1996 bombing that killed 19 American airmen. The information indicated that Saudi citizens had been responsible and not Iranians as once believed.



In 2001, The final episode of "3rd Rock from the Sun" aired on NBC.



In 2002, The remains of Chandra Levy, the federal intern who had disappeared more than a year earlier, were found in a Washington park.



Ten years ago (1994):



A worldwide trade embargo against Haiti went into effect to punish Haiti's military rulers for not reinstating the country's ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.



Five years ago (1999):



Columbine High School seniors wearing blue-and-silver gowns marched single file in a graduation ceremony that mixed celebration of the day with sorrow for victims of the recent massacre.



One year ago (2003):



The U.N. Security Council gave the U.S. and Britain a mandate to rule Iraq, ending 13 years of economic sanctions.



Annika Sorenstam became the first woman since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945 to tee off against the men on the pro tour, playing in the first round of the Colonial golf tournament in Fort Worth, Texas. (Sorenstam missed the cut the next day by four shots.)



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Today's Birthdays:



Movie reviewer Judith Crist is 82.



Singer Charles Aznavour is 80.



Actor Michael Constantine is 77.



Conductor Peter Nero is 70.



Actor-director Richard Benjamin is 66.



Actor Frank Converse is 66.



Actor Michael Sarrazin (Jacques Michel Andre Sarazin) is 64.



Former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw is 64.



Actress Barbara Parkins is 62.



Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 54.



Singer Morrissey is 45.



Country musician Dana Williams (Diamond Rio) is 43.



Rock musician Jesse Valenzuela is 42.



Rhythm and blues singer Johnny Gill (New Edition) is 38.



Rock musician Dan Roberts (Crash Test Dummies) is 37.



Model Naomi Campbell is 34.



Actress Alison Eastwood is 32.



Singer Donell Jones is 31.



Actress A.J. Langer is 30.



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Thought for Today:

"Freedom is the right to do what you ought to do." -

- Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, American religious leader (1895-1979).

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